DECISION ON THE REPORT OF THE HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT
ORIENTATION COMMITTEE (HSGOC) ON THE NEW PARTNERSHIP
FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT
Doc. Assembly/AU/7(XVI)
The Assembly,
WELCOMES the Report by the Chairperson of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC), H.E. Meles Zenawi Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia;
TAKES NOTE WITH SATISFACTION OF the smooth transition to the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) resulting from NEPAD integration into the African Union structures and processes, following Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.282(XIV adopted by the Fourteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2010;
WELCOMES the adoption of African Union AU rules and regulations for NPCA Human Resources and Finance systems and the recent setup of the NEPAD Coordination Unit in the Bureau of Chairperson of the Commission to interface between the Commission and NPCA WHILE EMPHASIZING continued collaboration, synergy and programme harmonization between the Commission and NPCA and providing the new Agency with necessary adequate financial resources to enable it function effectively; as well as urgently operationalizing NPCA new organizational structure;
ENDORSES the programmatic activities and priorities as contained in the NPCA Activity Report for July-December 2010 and outlook for 2011, ESPECIALLY NOTING the efforts at result-based performance and concrete progress in strategic planning, knowledge management, policy alignment, programme implementation and coordination, partnerships, resource mobilization and communication, including increased Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact signing; access to agriculture funding; roll-out of key regional programmes featuring rural futures, capacity development support for Regional Economic Communities; combating tuberculosis; implementation support for National Programmes of Actions (NPoAs) arising from APRM processes;
RECALLS Decision Assembly/AU/317(XIV) of the Fifteenth Assembly on promoting regional infrastructure development through political championing based on the AU/NEPAD African Action Plan: 2010-2015 and Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA); NOTES the finalization of the African Action Plan and its launch to implement the infrastructure priority programme as complementary to PIDA and the Presidential Infrastructure Initiative;
COMMENDS the work done and progress so far recorded by the High-Level Sub- Committee of eight (8) countries on the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative with South Africa as chair and ENDORSES the criteria and prioritized projects and champions selected for implementation covering the AU five (5) regions WHILE URGING necessary and continuous engagement with relevant countries, regional bodies, pan-African institutions and the private sector on the identified projects;
REQUESTS the NPCA and the AU Commission to continue to provide technical coordination and support for this Presidential initiative in collaboration with RECs, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic commission for Africa (UNECA), given the criticality of infrastructure to advance Africa’s regional integration agenda;
UNDERSCORES the essential need for Africa to consolidate its partnership engagement with the G8 and G20, NOTING IN PARTICULAR the key outcomes of the November 2010 G20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea and outlook for the 2011 G8/Africa Outreach in France; and WELCOMES concrete steps taken by the G20 Working Group on Development co-chaired by South Africa and South Korea;
ACCORDINGLY WELCOMES the G20 Seoul Development Consensus on Shared Growth as being consistent with NEPAD priority objectives and the Multi- Year Action Plan on Development focusing on concrete actions including the G20 High-Level Panel for Infrastructure Investments; CALLS UPON regional and multilateral development banks to align their policy and operational interventions to the Seoul Consensus; EXPRESSING the need for Africa to constructively interact with the G20 Panel towards utilizing global excess savings for investment in Africa’s infrastructure sector and REQUESTS the Commission and NPCA to galvanize the African voice towards this transformation goal;
REAFFIRMS the imperative for Africa’s adequate and effective representation in the G20 WHILE NOTING the participation of the Chairpersons of the African Union, HSGOC and the Commission at the Seoul Summit; ALSO REITERATES the call for Africa’s development partners including the G8 to fully deliver their commitments and PROPOSES the possibility of establishing an African/NEPAD Fund as resource window to expedite the implementation of key Continental programmes/projects;
UNDERLINES the importance of broad ownership of NEPAD Programme through inclusiveness and rotation of membership and hierarchy of the NEPAD governance structures and AGREES that the status quo for the current HSGOC Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons shall be maintained for one (1) year;
HIGHLIGHTS that consultations at the highest political level will continue within HSGOC on improving the work of NEPAD governance structures and consequently REQUESTS NPCA to draft the necessary rules of procedure to guide future conduct within NEPAD governance structures based on AU regulations and practices and present for HSGOC approval at the next Assembly;
NOTES that 2011 marks ten (10) years since the adoption of NEPAD as the AU flagship socio-economic programme in Lusaka in July 2001 STRESSING that this landmark provides the opportunity for deeper reflection at all levels on the success and challenge factors for actualizing Africa’s transformation agenda.